Painting of the New Orleans Sternwheeler

- Item No.

Key Features

A beautiful riverboat scene, almost certainly depicting the New Orleans sternwheeler

In terms of quality and subject, this work is a marvelous collector's piece

These nostalgic steamboats serve as a symbol of the American South

Oil on canvas

Canvas: 29 1/2 high x 49 1/8 wide; Frame: 33 1/2 high x 53 3/4 wide

Item Details

Width:
C: 49 1/8 F: 53 3/4 Inches

Height:
C: 29 1/2 F: 33 1/2 Inches

Period:
Other

Origin:
America

Subject:
Maritime

Painting of the New Orleans Sternwheeler

Oil on canvas

This captivating oil painting on canvas harkens to a time when powerful sternwheelers commonly navigated the mighty Mississippi. Though relegated almost exclusively for tourist use, these nostalgic steamboats serve as a symbol of the American South, and the lighthearted way of life in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Delta during the 19th-century.

This particular work displays wonderful detailing, as if a page from one of Mark Twain's iconic novels has been brought to life. It is believed that the sternwheeler in the foreground of this work is based upon the New Orleans, a 138-foot long, 300-400 ton sternwheeler that navigated the Mississippi between New Orleans and Natchez. Nicholas Roosevelt (the great-grand uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt), piloted the massive boat on its inaugural voyage from its birthplace in Pittsburgh to New Orleans in 1811. In fact, the captain's wife, Lydia, gave birth to a son while on this nearly three-month trip. Afterwards, the beautiful sternwheeler continued its service along the lower Mississippi until 1814, when the New Orleans was sunk by a snag.